avoiding roof leakage

Making Your Home Holiday-Ready: Easy, Inexpensive Ideas To Make It Both Safe & Inviting

As we write this, we’re in disbelief that the fall and winter holiday season will soon be upon us! Where did the year go? To help you ensure your holiday guests stay safe and feel welcomed this holiday season, we’ve put together a list of easy and inexpensive tactics you can start chipping away at now.

How To Make Your Home Feel Inviting To Holiday Guests

These small touches can make a huge difference in making your holiday guests feel special — whether they’ll be lodging with you for a few days, or just spending a few hours at your home:

  • Buy extra festive-looking boxes of kleenex at a big box or discount store, and place them around the house in bathrooms, guestrooms, and the kitchen for easy snagging by guests.
  • Purchase, at a discount store, a number of toss pillows with holiday designs, or in solid holiday colors like gold, silver, light blue, green, and red and place them on chairs and sofas throughout your home and on beds in guestrooms.
  • For both your bathrooms and guestrooms, create baskets that contain small toiletry items to make your guests feel pampered — you know the kind of baskets you see in restrooms at weddings. Include items like small scented hand lotions and soaps.
  • And speaking of soaps, shop big box or discount stores for hand soap with holiday designs or scents to place in bathrooms. While you’re there, snag a few pairs of comfy-cozy socks for individuals of all ages and genders, to place on the beds in guestrooms.
  • Seek out small white or red poinsettia plants or Christmas cactuses that are in bloom to place throughout your home, and in bathrooms and guestrooms.
  • Clear out and designate a drawer and space in a closet in any bedrooms in which guests will be staying so they know you took the time to prepare for their stay.
  • Use small baskets or bowls — particularly ones with a holiday design or color — to house a few snack items for guests, and place them on nightstands in bedrooms where guests will be staying. Related to that, consider placing small holiday figurines like elves or angels, or other holiday decorations, on nightstands and in bathrooms that will be used by guests.
  • Search online for the best deal for a collapsible luggage rack for guests to place their suitcase on when they arrive, and to make it easy for them to unpack.
  • Follow these tips from a fellow South Shore business (DME provider and expert in making homes accessible) to ensure your holidays are disability inclusive!

How to Keep Your Family And Guests Safe This Holiday Season

We’ve written a bunch of blog posts in the past about holiday safety and winter safety tips for your home. We recommend you review these each & every holiday and winter season to make sure your family and guests will stay safe:

The team of roofing experts at our South Shore roofing company is always available to talk with you about any of the following & more!: attic ventilation, attic air circulation; roof moisture, wall moisture, or ceiling moisture; ice dam prevention, ice dam removal; new home roof installation; and home roof replacement. You may find this past blog post helpful related to why your attic and roof may be wet on a dry winter day.

Never hesitate to reach out to our team of residential roofing contractors if we can be of service related to home safety measures or home challenges.

The team of experienced roofers at South Shore Roofing wishes all our readers and customers a very safe, healthy, and happy holiday season!

 

8 Steps To Keep Your Home and Family Merry & Safe This Winter and Holiday Season

Because of the restrictions and limitations that COVID19 placed on the 2020 holiday season, we’re all particularly excited about holiday home decorating safety celebrating the holidays in 2021, right? As South Shore roofing contractors, we’re seeing and hearing from local friends, family, and customers that they plan to go all out with holiday shopping, home get-togethers (even if they keep them small or stick to just family based on their pandemic comfort level), and decorating the inside and outside of their homes.

We think you’ll agree that, with all that “stepped-up” holiday activity, it’s more important than ever that we all do all we can to protect our South Shore homes and families, by putting the following measures in place:

Hanukkah Holiday SafetyThe team of roofing experts at our South Shore roofing company is always available to talk with you about any of the following & more!: attic ventilation, attic air circulation; roof moisture, wall moisture, or ceiling moisture; ice dam prevention, ice dam removal; new home roof installation; and home roof replacement. Never hesistate to reach out to see if we can be of service related to home safety measures or home challenges.

 

 

We wish all our readers a safe and happy holiday season and winter!

 

What Home and Business Owners Need to Know About Missing Roof Shingles

As New Englanders, we’re no strangers to storms. Wind, rain, sleet and ice can all leave a roof looking a little under the weather. After a storm blows through, you might notice a few asphalt shingles missing from your roof. Or maybe there is no storm, but you own a beautiful older home and some of the shingles are damaged or badly worn. You don’t think it’s a big deal, but then you start wondering. Will my roof leak? It’s definitely possible!

It’s important to get missing shingles replaced as soon as possible to prevent further damage and expenses down the line. Being proactive with your roof repair will save you hundreds of dollars and bring you peace of mind.

Why, Generally, a Missing Shingle is Cause for Concern

When shingles are missing it allows the wind to get between the roof deck and roof shingles causing the “non-missing” ones to lift and come unsealed. There is a one in three chance that the missing shingle sat above an open seam between the shingles below. The standard 3-tab shingles are installed side-by-side with each new row of shingles covering the top of the layer below and the side seams.

Shingles are installed in layers to wick water away from the wood underneath. Each layer is composed of 3-shingle sections that are laid next to each other, end to end. When roofers add new layers of shingles during installation, they stagger the seams so water can’t get in. If a shingle above a seam tears off, water can flow into the newly unprotected gap between the lower shingles, leading to rotted plywood and roof leaks.

Sometimes your missing shingle doesn’t reveal a seam, but your roof may still be in danger of leaking. The upper portion of the shingle has less protective mineral granules than the bottom. These granules protect the shingle from the sun. When the upper portion of the shingle is exposed, the UV rays might cause it to decay and the rest of the shingles will follow suit. This will eventually lead to leaking, water damage, and mold. No matter their placement on the roof, all missing shingles can lead to roof leaks. Generally, it’s best to address these issues as soon as possible.

The Details Behind Damage from Missing Shingles

  • Water: For a while, the felt paper below any missing shingles will shield your house from water damage. However, a missing asphalt shingle isn’t something you should leave unattended for too long. Left unfixed, you could be in danger, especially during heavy rain which can be common on Boston’s South Shore. Once under the shingles, water will rot the wood sheathing beneath. This can also harm your attic, ceiling joists, rafters, wall framing, and more. Rotting wood leads to structural instability in the home and seriously expensive damage. Leaking water is also a hazard because it leads to electrical issues and fire hazards when electrical systems are in close proximity to the leaking roof.
  • Mold: Mold and mildew can develop as a result of the moisture coming in through the damaged roof. Mold can ruin paint, walls, clothing, furniture, carpets, and rugs, not to mention cause health-related harm to people who have allergies or respiratory problems.
  • Ice: When the New England winter arrives, freezing water can lead to other issues. When the water which has entered the home freezes, it expands. This leads to cracks in the roof or framing of the house. It’s a slippery slope as the cracks allow more water to seep in – which makes the structure more unstable. You can read more about the impact of ice on roofs here, here, and here.
  • Increased Energy Bills: A roof with a hole in it is permeable. With a missing shingle, you will find it harder to keep your home warm or cold depending on the season and this will increase your energy bills.

How Our South Shore Roofing Company Can Help

As with many other home issues, it’s better to fix the problem of a missing asphalt shingle sooner rather than later. Our roofing contractor experts at South Shore Roofing can fix your home or commercial roof before it starts leaking. We’ll help keep your family, employees, or tenants safe and dry! So, please reach out any time to discuss roof damages and the best solutions.